LIBRARY DESIGN DRAWS PROTESTS FROM ARCHITECT.

Byline: Angela M. Lemire Staff Writer

When the new Canyon Country library is built next year, local resident Greg Griffin wants it to stand out as a civic monument that reflects the community.

Griffin, an architect, objects to preliminary designs for a free-standing building at Shangri La Drive and Soledad Canyon Road, across from the retail center and Edwards Cinema Complex.

``It's not a library. What we're seeing is a retail center filled with books,'' Griffin recently said. ``If, as residents, we can stand up against the designs being presented to us, we can have a building we can be proud of.''

Under a lease-purchase agreement, TCP Management will develop the library, expected to take 18 months for construction and to open early in 2001.

In a joint venture with county government, Santa Clarita city government is initially putting up all the money for a 17,000-square-foot-building for the county Library Services Agency. Officials are still negotiating final cost-sharing terms and a schedule for county payments to the city.

Officials have reached preliminary agreement that the new Canyon Country library initially will occupy 10,000 square feet of the building and take over the remaining 7,000 square feet as needs increase.

TCP will get phased payments from the city for the building.

Early designs show a building with an outdoor courtyard with stonework, southwestern tiles and water fountains.

Griffin said the preliminary concept appears to be for a retail store and not a library. He said a library building needs a different approach, including lighting comfortable for reading, features conducive to preserving books and attention to check-out points, exits and entrances.

Councilwoman Jan Heidt said she shares Griffin's view that a library should be a community monument fitting into its neighborhood.

``I'd like to see more wood or an exterior that blends in better with the neighborhood,'' Heidt said. ``I'm not an architect . . . but we have to do a lot more looking before settling on this. I want to see more design options before we build this.''

Ken Striplin, a city management analyst, said design work is still in progress.

He said suggestions from the City Council will be taken into account.

He said city officials and the developer also are gathering community comments.

Heidt and Griffin protested proposed placement of windows in the preliminary designs. The placement of windows on the east and west sides would create glare on books and on computer screens, as well as an uncomfortable reading environment, and restrict book placement, they said.

Direct sunlight also accelerates the decay of books, Griffin said. He said natural light in libraries usually is diffused through features such as frosted skylights.

Griffin found other problems in preliminary designs. He said the building's north side would itself create shade, and he questioned putting a shading trellis there.

He questioned the courtyard site outside the building's west end. Patrons would have to check out books before going to the courtyard, then walk to the rear of the building, he said. But he said it would waste space to put in a second check-out counter when one would be adequate with a better layout.

Griffin and Heidt also said they want the exterior of the building to distinguish it from the neighboring retail center.

``There's a number of different approaches one can take to coming up with a look that's more aesthetically pleasing and says something about Canyon Country,'' said Griffin, noting its place in history for mining, the Old West and the Gold Rush. ``One option may be to come up with a design that brings it out.''